With sequels dropping left and right, it’s high time, after reviewing the second one, that I took a look at Cruel Summer, the first feature in writer/director Scott Tepperman’s (Hell’s Bells) slasher film saga. Cruel Summer Synopsis A group of college students plan one final pre-graduation party at a secluded …
Read More »Aliens and Consumerism: ‘THEY LIVE’ (1988) Still Kicking Ass at 35
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, John Carpenter’s They Live keeps kicking reality’s ass and making you question the whole circus of life. This 1988 cult classic is a subversive masterclass, mixing sci-fi, social commentary, and sardonic humor like a cocktail that’ll leave you pondering well into the next century. -Soapbox moment. …
Read More »Way Creepier Than Expected: ‘The Dead Mother’ (1993) Blu-ray Review
An essential film in the drama/horror realm of Spanish cinema, Juanma Bajo Ulloa’s The Dead Mother gets the “special issue” treatment from Radiance Films. The Dead Mother Synopsis A criminal, shoots and kills a painting restorer during a bungled burglary, and shoots her daughter as well. Twenty years later, the …
Read More »Aww, Lawd! They Comin’! Amando de Ossorio’s ‘Tombs of the Blind Dead’ (1972) – Blu-ray Review
Remember when they released Amando de Ossorio’s Blind Dead films on DVD in that groovy coffin-shaped box? Not to be outdone, Synapse Films is bringing those crusty-ass Templar zombies back, in stunning high definition, starting with the original, Tombs of the Blind Dead, AKA La noche del terror ciego, on …
Read More »Unearthing Dread: A Deep Dive into Demian Rugna’s ‘When Evil Lurks’ (2023) – Movie Review
Prepare yourself for a dark cinematic experience that is When Evil Lurks. It unfolds into a film that refreshingly doesn’t play by the rules and delves into the depths of violent suspense and terror, right from the opening title card scene that could rival the aftermath of Leatherface’s infamous chainsaw. …
Read More »‘The Collingswood Story’ – The Long-Distance Breakup Tale Involving a Satanic Cult
There is a sense of dread and inevitability from the first frame of The Collingswood Story. This little-known Screenlife thriller from 2002 is perhaps the first of the sub-genre. Primarily taking place on a pre-Skype video chat platform based on a landline, the instability and unreliability of the platform perfectly …
Read More »Franck Khalfoun’s ‘Night of the Hunted’ (2023) Movie Review
One-location horror is often the gateway to tension. When we see a beloved protagonist stranded in an enclosed space, it’s easy for us as an audience to relate to them. Even more so, it’s easy to feel like we’re in that space with them, claustrophobically immersed in every sound, corner, …
Read More »When Gophers Attack: ‘Caddy Hack’ (2023) Blu-ray Review
Like most people my age, I grew up watching the infinitely quotable Caddyshack. And its legacy as the quintessential golf comedy is still stronger than ever. So imagine my delight when I saw that there was a horror/comedy titled Caddy Hack being released. But, I thought with some trepidation, it …
Read More »Review: ‘Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor’ Fleshes Out World Behind the Abbadon Hotel
Of all the categories of horror films, my heart will always belong to the found footage genre. Of those, I dearly love Stephen Cognetti’s Hell House LLC series, which follows mysterious and deadly events at the Abaddon Hotel in rural New York. After completing the trilogy in 2019, fans may …
Read More »‘THE JESSICA CABIN’ (2022): A Unique Queer Ghost Story – Film Review
One of the cool things I get to do here at PopHorror is review films. I try to watch films that haven’t been on my radar and I go into them blind. I enjoy the mystery of watching a new film with no expectations and sometimes I get surprised by …
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